Beauregard Hickorysmoke
Human male, born LY 858, in Ristar. Colonel of the Ristar regiment of the Army. Beauregard (pronounced ' 'bō·rē'gärd') comes from a family who were among the settlers of Ristar, in 850. Unlike the majority of Ristar's settlers, who came from Ship, Beau's family were from Frinn, where they were mostly employed as woodcutters. When they moved to Ristar, they staked out a claim on a portion of forest that produced mainly hickory trees. They would cut the trees themselves, but also built themselves a saw mill, and thus started a highly profitable family business. The wood they produce is used in constructing buildings, vehicles, tools, musical instruments, sports equipment, and weapons, as well as for firewood and for smoking meat. It's because of this last use that the clan chose the name 'Hickorysmoke' when the surname law was passed in 904. Beau was the first child to be born in his family after they moved to Ristar, and as such is the eldest of the first generation of his clan to be of the upper class, rather than lower class labors, as previous generations had been (though most noble clans would consider the Hickorysmokes to be merely upper middle class). Beau received a diverse education from the best masters in the village, the first member of his family to be so educated. He grew up feeling a great sense of pride in his clan, and great confidence in himself. These feelings are shared by his younger sister, Savannah, and the various cousins of their generation, as well as by the succeeding generations. For over six decades now, the clan has striven to continually elevate their social standing in both Ristar and the world, and to maintain a sense of elegance about themselves. (And few if any members of any class would say that they have failed in this endeavor.) Beau began his career as a manager of the family's first mill, at age 20. By this time, they already had expanded their business with a second mill, as well as various other investments. (The company had come to be known as Hickory Holdings.) By age 30, Beau took over the day-to-day running of the entire business (though his father, Hamilton, technically remained president of the company). Beau continued expanding Hickory Holdings, until officially taking over as president in 898, at age 40, when Hamilton retired. Unlike his sister and cousins, Beau never married, as his work consumed most of his time and attention. However, he did find time to casually date various women, throughout his life. It was, coincidentally, in 898 that certain elements of The Plan were revealed to spirit-talkers from villages other than Monab, and because Beau's family were well-connected in society as well as being fairly religious, the clan were among the first people in Ristar to learn of The Plan, upon the village's bishop returning from that year's Pilgrimage. Beau immediately felt quite passionately that the ideals of The Plan were very worthy, and he vowed to do whatever he could to help with the Coming of the Order. One of the things he did was begin organizing an army in his village, unbeknownst to the Planners, who were still a few years away from organizing their own armies in the Northern Alliance. Beau dubbed himself a major, and led his army into battle in 903, though it wouldn't be until near the end of the war that then-general Poss officially recognized him as a major. After the war, Beau was promoted to colonel, and became commander of the Ristar regiment of the Army. The presidency of Hickory Holdings was then officially passed to Savannah, who had been running the company in her brother's absence during the war. Since that time, Beau has endeavored to become friendly with his fellow colonels from other regiments, though the one he likes best is said to be Siobhan Muttonchop of First Village. He reportedly likes to joke that her surname would fit him better, since he has muttonchop sideburns, but neither she nor any member of her clan are fond of such jokes about their surname. She also feels her clan is in many way superior to his, since they are wealthier, and have been so far longer than his has had any money to speak of. This doesn't stop Beau from flirting with her whenever he sees her, however one-sided the flirtation. During the Chaos War of 912, Beau and his regiment fought on the side of The Cabal, though it is not believed that he knew of its existence until it was revealed to the world, shortly before the war began. His regiment had been sent to First Village, where he and his troops fought alongside Col. Muttonchop and hers in the Battle of First Village. Category:People